The present invention relates to computer-aided design and particularly to a computerized discovery tool for electrical engineers.
According to industry sources, the high-tech industry is projected to grow from approximately $610 billion in 1999 to approximately $1.1 trillion in 2004. While the high-tech market is growing rapidly, it is also undergoing rapid change. Although this industry has typically been characterized by complex products, volatile product life cycles and frequent product obsolescence, rapid developments in technology have magnified these characteristics. As a result, high-tech companies face increasing pressure to accelerate the development and delivery of increasingly complex products to remain competitive in their industry. Additionally, manufacturers, suppliers and distributors of technology and component parts are under comparable competitive pressure to quickly and efficiently adjust their inventory to meet the changing product development needs of their high-tech customers.
The high-tech research and development process is highly complex and consists of three logical phases —Discovery, Design and Implementation. The most crucial phase is the Discovery phase because it provides the foundation for a product's development and, if incomplete, may result in a product that is non-competitive or unprofitable, has a short life cycle or violates others' intellectual property. Rather than a linear process, the Discovery phase is an extensive, iterative and organic process, frequently requiring a collaborative, as opposed to an individual, effort. During the Discovery phase, engineers conceptualize an idea, break it down into manageable elements, identify a finite set of possible solutions for each element, test each solution against predefined performance criteria and finally select the optimal solution, while ensuring the interdependencies between each element remains intact. In one method too accomplish this, engineers: (1) create a block diagram of their concept; (2) research vast amounts of specialized information such as algorithms and standards from leading research institutions and industry forums; (3) verify the product concept against protected art to ensure uniqueness; (4) consider the optimal hardware architecture and components to implement the design; (5) investigate available firmware and software from third-party developers to determine “make or buy” decisions; and (6) repeat these steps for each block in their diagram, as many times as necessary to select the optimal component or subsystem for each block, while ensuring the interdependencies between each block remain intact.
For the Discovery process to be effective, engineers need to know what is available from all possible sources as well as what is currently in development. Traditional resources for high-tech Discovery are currently highly fragmented and decentralized, ranging from publications from research institutions, universities, standards forums, patent offices and trade journals to consultations with patent attorneys, field applications engineers and manufacturers' representatives.
Each of these sources suffers from limitations. Some publications do not contain up-to-date information and other sources of information are frequently biased because they contain data only on certain manufacturers' or distributors' products. Still others, such as dissertations or information available only by executing non-disclosure agreements (“NDAs”), are not easily accessible or, in the case of patents, understandable to engineers because they are drafted by lawyers who use their own specialized language. Similarly, consultations are typically incomplete because the knowledge or bias of the consultant limit them.
As a result, Discovery undertaken using traditional resources is costly, inefficient, time consuming, incomplete and prone to error. Moreover, the iterative nature of Discovery exacerbates these shortcomings, making it increasingly difficult for companies using traditional Discovery methods to keep pace with shorter product life cycles and higher growth expectations within the high-tech industry.
Although high-tech companies are increasingly utilizing the Internet to address their research and development needs, there are no interactive Discovery tools available on the Internet today. Furthermore, the Web sites that are available address only certain portions of the Discovery process. As a result, engineers at high-tech companies must still utilize costly, time-consuming and error-prone resource channels, making it difficult to accelerate the development and delivery of new products and to remain competitive. Furthermore, the Web sites currently available to design engineers suffer from the same limitations as the traditional channels for one or more of the following reasons:
(1) The Available Tools are Rudimentary
The tools that currently exist on the Web are not robust. Because they are quite limited in functionality, engineers must still undertake a fragmented, time-consuming, costly and error-prone Discovery process, which can delay time-to-market of the product under development.
(2) Narrow, Isolated Databases
During the Discovery process, engineers need to access a broad range of interdependent information. Currently, however, the databases available to the engineering community on-line are typically limited to a particular category of information and do not in the aggregate provide all the information necessary to support the Discovery process. As a result, engineers must navigate between Web sites and consult traditional resources, making it time consuming and difficult for them to identify the optimal solutions.
(3) Incomplete or Biased Databases
Currently, many of the databases available to the engineering community are incomplete or biased. The few electronic component databases that do exist lack up-to-date information that is generally available only under non-disclosure agreements. Furthermore, some of the databases are primarily fulfillment driven and are biased by only providing information on the products being offered. As a result, engineers must still consult traditional and on-line resources in each category, thereby prolonging the Discovery process.
(4) Improperly Structured Information
Technology such as algorithms, electronic components and software code can typically be used in multiple applications, yet the few engineering-related databases available on the Internet today lack functionality necessary to enable engineers to search effectively. For example, most of the component databases have been structured according to part number, pricing information and other attributes targeted primarily for procurement —these characteristics are not very useful for engineers. As a result, engineers must still undertake time-consuming searches off-line to complete an effective Discovery process.
(5) Unsophisticated Search Capabilities
Currently, Web sites that offer engineering-related databases typically use keyword or parametric search engines that are primarily text-based and therefore do not allow engineers to search according to their functional requirements. Such keyword searches do not enable engineers to discover interdependent information within subsets or supersets. As a result, searches on these Web sites are frequently ineffective and time consuming.
What is needed in the art is a better method and system for Engineering Discovery that will provide a systematic approach to Discovery. Such a system should provide engineers with a complete system, including more robust databases, better searching techniques, and other tools which make the Discovery process quicker, more accurate, and easier.